Life After College

I've been attending the life after college sessions to help grasp an idea of what it's like to set up your own business and understand how to get a job as a creative. I love the idea of working for someone else but since being younger I've always had the vision of setting up my own clothing company. I plan on attending the Life after college sessions throughout july and august with my business partner as In September I'm going to try and open a clothing company called 'The Universes Pupils'. This experience is offered by the company life after college to Yorkshire Universities  its £90 and is a 4 day course in Doncaster so I'm rather excited to get going. 

During the life after college sessions I made a lot of notes that were and will be very helpful to me in the future. I pitched my business Idea to the rest of the group and gained some feedback. I will be updating my PPD with a business plan further down the line. 

Some of my notes from the Session are below...

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CIDA

7% to GDP Gross domestic product

Employ 6,000,000 people

As soon as you offer goods, let alone sell them, you need to be registered self-employed. HMRC Register online. Keep all receipts, invoices and document ingoing’s and outgoings.  

-Pin board of receipts, divided into months is a good device to cut down on coasts for an accountant. 

The Creative Entrepreneur 

10 attributes for success

Creative entrepreneurs are driven by the work itself.

-For others, being in business is an end in itself.

-For creative entrepreneurs, being in business is a means to an end. 

Creative enterprises are characterised by freelance or micro business.

-Portfolio workers adapting their skills to a range of employers.

-But minimises need to take on responsibilities for leadership, management, human resource development etc.

-Limits potential for business growth. 

The reality

-The sector does not conform to traditional industrial definitions.

-Prototype, equipment, reproduction and distribituion. 

-Sector is often more collaborative.

Creative entrepeneurs appear to be financially risk averse not because they are airheads but;

-They want to protect their integrity.

-They want to retain control.

-They take unintelligible risks

-They may not know the business rules of the game

-But they will improvise. 

Creative entrepreneurs tend to go for local markets.

-Fear of strategic planning.

-Weakness in making connections.

-But knowledge economy makes global business an opportunity even for new creative entrepreneurs.

ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING

Values-Led

-A clear sense of values and beliefs underpinning creative business decisions. 

-Values are an anchor for business, express your values before starting a business plan etc. 

-Particularly in difficult or challenging circumstances.

Conceptual Thinking

Uses fresh approaches.

Comes up with crazy new ideas leading to new or radical change. 

Listens to new ideas without pre-judgement

Project Management.

-Planning and managing to turn into reality.

-Managing critical links between people, ideas and information at all stages in the project lifecycle. 

-Understanding how to negotiate, how to communicate with tact and reach agreements, which are acceptable to the project.

-Evaluating effectiveness of project planning an implementation. 

Risk Taking

-Operates from hope of success rather than from fear of failure.

-Persists in pursuing goals despite obstacles and setbacks.

-Sees setbacks as due to manageable circumstance rather than as a personal flaw.

-Learns how to assess choices responsibly.

-Weights outcomes against values and responsibilities. 

Leadership

-Builds total capability of the team-Including freelancers!

Innovation

Uses imagination to devlop new ideas and insights. 

Turns innovative ideas into products, services, business process 

Where’s your head? Where’s your heart?